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The Unique Combat Of 'Dark Souls'

Dark Souls has a unique combat system that is simple to learn but tricky to master that’s unlike almost any other video game.

I’ve been playing a lot of action games lately—DmC, God of War, Bayonetta—alongside a lot of turn-based games—Fire Emblem: Awakening, Persona 4 Golden, XCOM: Enemy Unknown—and a thought has occurred to me.

Dark Souls is like none of these games and like all of them at the same time. There are no complex moves in Dark Souls, but it’s nothing like a click-and-slash button masher. Button mashing will get you only one place: dead.

But nor is it really comparable to its more complex action peers. There is no long list of combos to learn. Indeed, each weapon has only a handful of very simple moves. Even assuming you learn each move set for each weapon in the game, you’re still pressing essentially the same buttons in order to carry out heavy attacks, light attacks, and so forth.

So Dark Souls is neither a click-and-slash game a la Diablo or a combo-action style game like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta; but nor is it a turn-based game similar to innumerable other JRPGs.

I’ve been playing games that take a bit of a hybrid approach to the turn-based and action genres. Xenoblade and The Last Story both, to some degree, implement a hybrid model for their combat systems (though the two games end up with very different systems.)

Dark Souls is nothing like either of these games. And yet, I can’t help but think that From Software has created a sort of action-turn-based hybrid with the game. There’s no pausing or official “turns” at all, but the nature of the fights means that you’ll often be waiting your turn and planning your timing, whether that’s to strike or parry or roll out of the way.

The game, in other words, leans heavily toward action, but because combat is so perilous and gritty and simplistic (though far from easy) you often find yourself in what feels like a stand-off, whether battling invading players or NPCs, waiting with some trepidation for your “turn.”

While Xenoblade leans heavily toward a more traditional turn-based model made more hectic by an action veneer, Dark Souls gives action combat a sense of turn-based tension and thoughtfulness. This is why when people ask me whether the game is one in which they need to learn a gazillion combos or one that’s all hack and slash, I can only say “neither.”

Whatever the case, nobody else has replicated this style of combat. Only Demon’s Souls (From’s first Souls game) has a similarly subtle hybrid of action and turn-based combat.

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Sorry but regularly check Erik’s page for his thoughts on Dark Souls. He can write an article about it everyday and I would complain that it was only one article and not two, he is as obsessed with this game as I am so I completely understand. Dark Souls has made its mark on gaming and will be talked about for a long while yet. Keep up the good work Erik and the more Dark Souls the better !

You honestly missed the point of the article in general, Steve Stark. Don’t hate on his opinions, especially without the knowledge of what they truly are. What you are saying seems like you are making his articles out to be something that they are not.

I’m not sure what you mean by pushing a button not having a predetermined outcome. TW2 manages to combine the importance of movement and timing so crucial to DeS/DaS. While only a fraction as deep (although I feel this is a factor offset by the skill tree). It’s not a recreation or even a competitor to the combat from From’s games, but a different implementation with less player controlled input and more character driven effectiveness.

I’m not arguing it is better than or equal to, but rather that DeS & DaS are not the only games with their style of combat.

When I go to attack with my sword in TW2, I’m not sure 100% what’s going to happen. I’m not entirely sure what sort of motion it will result in. Sometimes I’ll go leaping off in the wrong direction because the auto-lock on sends me toward an enemy over there. But really, the combat in TW2 is my least favorite part of the game. I can just magic myself invincible half the time, for one thing, and basically ignore the fine tuning of defensive maneuvers like parry and riposte. I hope the next Witcher game pushes the combat forward in a major way. It has the makings of a great system, but leaves much to be desired. I do, however, see what you’re getting at and I agree.

To be fair, From’s combat also has its own X Factor, most notably knockback when you strike a surface. It’s essentially random, but when you strike certain enemies while they are defending, or a wall or something, you can be launched back a foot or two with the recoil. It’s difficult to replicate, and it’s only really a noticeable in narrow areas where knockback will result in death.

Personally it’s my least favorite element of the game, for a combat system where you can exert such a fine level of control to toss in a mechanic like that. It throws me off more than anything.

I do agree about TW2. I think there’s a lot of improvements that can be made, and I really look forward to what they may do with TW3.